The world is currently transfixed and shocked by events in Iran. Across the country, tens of thousands of people are demanding an end to the mullah regime. We're shedding light on the story of the Islamic Revolution of 1979 — an event with effects that are still being felt today. 

In 1978/79, the Islamic Revolution changed the Middle East forever. During those years, Iran went from a modern, pro-Western country under the leadership of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi to a strict Islamic republic under the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini.

We retrace the events from the CIA-backed coup in 1953 to the mass protests and uprisings of 1978/1979 and the mullahs' seizure of power after the fall of the shah. Why are millions of Iranians still protesting today, in 2025 and 2026?

Why has the name of the exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi reemerged as a symbol of resistance to the current regime? Why does modern Iran still have to fight for democracy? We're also looking at women's rights, hijab laws and the tragic death of Jina Mahsa Amini in 2022.

With firsthand testimonies from Iranian-American writer Roya Hakakian, who grew up in Tehran, and historian Ali Ansari, whose family witnessed the fall of the shah firsthand, we develop a better understanding of this Persian Gulf country.

We also explain how the CIA and MI6 played crucial roles in shaping Iranian history and how Ayatollah Khomeini outmaneuvered secular revolutionaries, leftists and moderate voices.

We recount what the 444-day hostage crisis at the US embassy meant for Iranian American relations and how Iranian women lost the rights that their grandmothers had once fought for. Iran — a fascinating and turbulent country in upheaval. 

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